The Stars and Forbidden Cigarettes | Professor Remus Lupin

Hallowe'en

Leaving the Great Hall and stepping into the courtyard, Reverie realizes it hasn't rained much at all for almost a month. Lost in her hyper-focused studies, she barely even noticed, and only really notices now because she feels the tens of gentle droplets on her skin. She looks up at the clouded sky and lets herself smile, almost relieved, and she leaves her satchel under the covered portion of the courtyard as she walks towards the banks of the lake.

It isn't raining hard, barely more than a light mist, and when she reaches the rock near the edge of the shore, she doesn't recognize it as the one she's sat on alone these past few clear-skied weeks, but rather as the one she sat on in the rain, shoulder-to-shoulder, much too close to him, and she scolds herself at the thought as she sits down and pulls out a book.

The peace, however, doesn't last, for after barely an hour, she hears commotion in the castle, loud enough to travel through the grounds, and she recognizes the sound of the main doors beginning to lock all the way down. Confused on why they're locking the doors at all, or at least so early into the night, she turns her head towards the castle and sees that all the towers are dark. Anxious now, she gets up from the rock, the locking sounds still reverberating across the grounds, and she estimates that the locking has progressed at least halfway down the door until they suddenly stop. After a few seconds pause, the sound continues again, but this time, it sounds like the locks are being freed, and she starts jogging towards the doors as they open.

In the light from the Great Hall, she sees Lupin clearly silhouetted, and he begins walking purposefully through the courtyard and towards her. They reach each other half-way down the grounds. The first thing she notices is that his hair is disheveled, and for some outlandish reason, she feels torn between wanting to bring her hand up to fix it and liking it how it is. 

Why does she like it how it is??

But her trance doesn't last long.

"You stupid, stupid girl," he says, and puts his hand at her back to shove her forward before drawing it back quickly, as if regretting touching her. At the contact, Reverie breathes in sharply, and her back burns. Her eyes flit to him, and his eyes are closed tightly before they open again.  

"You and your rule-breaking would've gotten yourself killed, locked out here in this weather all night."

She forgets all pretense of not speaking to him when she asks, "What's happening?"

"Sirius Black is happening. They say he's in the castle," Lupin says, frowning and looking ahead. 

"Sirius Black? The murderer? Is he really? How could he have possibly gotten in?"

"Aren't those positively astute questions?" He responds sarcastically, as they reach the courtyard.

She sees her satchel on the ground in the corner, and she runs to the side to get it. As she bends down, Lupin looks away quickly, but not quick enough, because the fleeting image of the curvature of her long legs is enough to burn brightly behind his eyelids even with his eyes closed. 

Angry at himself, he once again lets himself resent her for his own turmoil.

"Hurry up, Miss Castill. The whole castle doesn't have all night to wait for you," he yells, before realizing she's already at his side, slinging her bag on her shoulder.

"I could say the same about you," she says, as she begins walking. He shakes his head, annoyed, before walking in stride alongside her.

They reach the main doors, where Professor McGonagall is waiting and ushers them inside.

"Hurry now, child. Into the Great Hall you go," McGonagall says hurriedly. Reverie smiles at her but lingers at the bottom of the stairs as she listens to McGonagall's instruction to Lupin, who is right behind her.

"I reckon you're able to take care of her, Remus?" she asks, almost desperately.

"Yes, yes, go," he tells her, directing her towards Dumbledore, who has begun bewitching the large oak doors to lock once again. McGonagall shuffles towards Dumbledore worriedly, and Reverie watches as Lupin turns away from McGonagall and towards her almost disapprovingly.

He walks to her, takes her by the arm lightly, and directs her up the stairs, but instead of going directly into the Great Hall, they move to the left, out of sight from the entrance, and he stands in front of her.

"You must know that these little escapades must stop. Not only have they put you in danger, but also everyone else in this castle," he says. She frowns and looks up at him.

"And you must know that that was never my intention, Professor."

"I don't care about your intention, Miss Castill. I care about its repercussions, what position it puts others in."

Reverie scoffs. "Fine. Give me another detention, for all I care. As long as you don't memorize my words and recite them back to me and look at me first as if I'm the last human left on Earth and then as if you want me dead. What position does that put me in, Professor?" Reverie says angrily.

Lupin glowers at her and then looks away, whether it be in anger or restraint or something more, Reverie doesn't know. "Go inside, before one detention turns into two."

Reverie glares at him, turns, and walks into the Great Hall. Her anger dissipates relatively quickly, though, when she sees Oliver near the middle of the column of Gryffindors. He waves her over, and she sees there's already a sleeping bag prepared on the floor next to him. She smiles as she approaches.

"Rev! Merlin, I thought you were hurt. Did you hear? Black was in the castle!" He whispers excitedly.

"I heard, I heard! How could he even have possibly gotten in?" She asks as they lay down on their respective sleeping bags. They face each other, and Oliver is fiddling with his wand.

"Who knows," he says quietly. "But they say he isn't inside anymore. The whole castle's being checked."

"You know, I saw the entire castle go completely dark from outside."

"Yeah, what were you doing outside anyway?" Oliver asks, leaning in, conspiratorially.

"Oh you know, practicing my hexes so I can hex Lupin," she says grinning. "He dragged me back to the castle as if I was the murderer that broke in."

"He needs to get his priorities straight. Hex him before Monday, would you? I'd rather not do those 12 inches on Goblins," Oliver whispers, and at that, Reverie laughs once loudly and then slaps her hand over her mouth at the noise. They both try to contain their laughter, now mainly about Reverie's loud outburst, and Reverie buries her head in her pillow.

But nothing good seems to ever last for Reverie, because she feels his presence before she sees him, and she stops laughing and looks up to see Lupin staring down at her and Oliver, and she groans.

"What?" She says, trying to force malice into her voice.

"Miss Castill, I'm afraid this school-wide emergency is not to be considered a sleepover for you and Mr. Wood here. Coupled with your behavior earlier, I'd rather think that the far end would be much more suitable for you, wouldn't you think?" He says, nodding towards the end of the Gryffindor column closest to the doors, where there is a chair for the house supervisor. Reverie is staring up at him, dumbfounded. He looks back at her challengingly, his green-blue eyes burning into her own.

"You've got to be joking."

Lupin begins to turn away. "Now, Miss Castill."

Reverie turns her head towards Oliver with wide, angry eyes, and Oliver pulls out his wand and waves it. "Hex him," he mouths, and Reverie grins and gets up, rolling her eyes.

She reaches the end of the hall, where she sees a purple, empty sleeping bag waiting for her by the house supervisor chair, but as she sits down on the bag, Lupin sits down on the chair, and Reverie shuts her eyes tightly and groans.

"Bloody hell," she mutters under her breath.

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A/N: Chapter 8! I meant to post this a bit ago, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to split this up into two chapters or just one. I ended up splitting it, so Halloween night isn't over yet! I hope you all are enjoying this story and staying safe, and as always, feel free to comment!